Adventure Summaries and News for the World of Telvar

August 03, 1996

The Fifth Telvar Open: The Peaks of Light

The Fifth Telvar Open, known as the Peaks of Light, took place in August, 1996.

This Open involved the quest for a Mithril Key by a group of Frost Giants bent on revenge against the Regency of Cromwell.

Ultimately, the giants failed in their quest, a tribe of gnolls was decimated, the human parties were very confused, the Polar Wyrm ate some, and the xenophobic dwarves closed off their mine from prying eyes. Makes you wish there was a summary, doesn't it?

You can see a picture of the participants on Joey's picture Telvar Open picture page.

Keith Nelson added this bit for posterity:

I played Nayalla Perantha, aka "Cypress," an experienced warrior and
outdoorswoman and member of the Academy's team to investigate unusual
reports in Cromwell. We were instructed to finish exploring the region
where a new city will be built near Mount Ederglow, through the Fanjyr pass.
I was adventuring with Pelbo, DeHouvaire, Saldon, Montaigne, Elisabeth,
and Tribber - a very powerful team of fighter, thief, cleric, mage, fighter,
and bard, respectively. We started out tracking a force of giants into a
series of ice caves, tracks that might have included a very large dog or
cat...and my memory goes blank. I mapped the hell out of a bunch of caves
that all dead-ended. We apparently started at a cave-in, and there is a
comment on the map, "Strange stone visible like Derval's castle" for those
of you who know what THAT is, but I didn't have any other notes.

The Background and many of the Characters of the Fifth Telvar Open from the Dungeon Master:

The Peaks of Light

The Fifth Open Tournament, August 3, 1996, December 18, 2178 B.Y.

"Does anyone know what that sound was?”

A TELVAR Adventure Dungeon Mastered by: Edwin Brooks Anderson, Jr.

Hosted by: Andrew Anderson

Additional Support from: Keith Nelson and Rodger Henson

The Tale of the Jarldom

Long ago, the Luer Jarldom ruled this region of the world. Men lived in weak, disorganized bands, that paid tribute for their lives. The ogres served as willing servants in exchange for some of the privilege of siding with the powerful Jarl. There was work to do, but slaves were plentiful, and it wasn’t too tough putting down any tribes that didn’t fall into line.

Then strange men came out of the west. They wore steel armor like the Jarl’s troops. They were numerous, and fairly well organized. As time passed, they became harder and harder to ignore. When the men of the west started building structures inside the Jarl’s tributary lands, something had to be done. There were scattered battles for almost five hundred years. Then the men banded together into one great kingdom; Cromwell they called it. The new pact of men was more than the Jarldom could resist, and the Luer Jarldom has been on the decline ever since.

About twenty years ago, some of the ancient giant kingdoms of the mountains sided with the country to the north, the Realm of Men. They saw this as a chance to rebuild their empire in the lands now held by Cromwell. The Luer Jarldom waited to see how it worked out. The other giants were crushed. Their kingdoms were pushed to near ruin.

It was about five years ago that the men of Cromwell came into the mountains. They came to Mount Ederglow and to the ancient volcano there. The ruins of a dark enchantress occupied an island in a lake in the crater. The human’s started building a new city on the ruins. This would put a human city within fifteen miles of the Luer Glacier itself. Such a settlement would surely lead to the end of the Jarldom.

Many councils were held. The Jarl argued for war, but then a strange old giant of the Great Jarldom of the south spoke. He told of magical portals to that the dark enchantress built to her ancient city. He seemed to think he could get a strike force into the building site, slay the workers, and escape before the human’s would be able to determine what had happened. With the ability to slay the construction workers at will, the humans could be discouraged from rebuilding the city, and the Jarldom could go undisturbed. The old giant, Yurntih Nernhall, convinced the Jarl to outfit a war party to travel to Silver Lake and “see what truth can be made of the storyteller’s tale.”

Cromwell’s New Start

Cromwell’s history stretches back to the beginning of the age. It’s early history was a major factor in the bard’s decision to start a new age.

In the distant past a great democratic empire had dominated the world, but it had collapsed in accusations of corruption, and, perhaps, under its own vast weight. Almost three thousand years of “dark ages” followed. A series of brutal emperors struggled to build a new empire out of the ruins of the old. Their harsh measures terrified many more than the banditry and chaos of anarchy. Some fought the expansion; others fled.

The bandit lands of the brutal east were widely feared, but to some it seemed a perfect place to move and start again. By a thousand years into the Dark Ages, a half dozen small freeholds had located in a rich agricultural area around a series of inland lakes. There were occasional disputes with the druids and natives from the northern mountains, but the threat of giants, goblins, and worse pulled them together.

Dwarves, long thought to be creatures of legend, had appeared in the world after some sort of a cultural collapse of their empire. One large colony from the north, known as Shabrund, came to the small kingdoms offering gold and gems for food. Trade with the dwarves flourished, but relations with the natives floundered as the kingdoms expanded.

Just over two thousand years ago, a strange knight known as Sir Cromwell came out of the west with a band of friends. They traveled through the small kingdoms and did some small number of services for the local leaders: slaying monsters, apprehending criminals, and the like. In time, they disappeared to the east to seek their fortune.

They returned four years later fewer in number. They declared that they were settling down and starting a freehold on the eastern fringes of the lands. The existing kingdoms welcomed another buffer between them and the harsher lands to the east. Sir Cromwell had also been friendly to almost all of them, and a friendly local leader was an added benefit. He signed treaties with many of the local kingdoms agreeing to cooperate on many issues, but centering on working together to fight monsters and hostile humanoids.

In just a few years in became clear that Sir Cromwell was incredibly rich. He built his freehold with great speed, and rapidly began to expand it. The economy in his young kingdom flourished and he began to sign extensive trade treaties with his neighbors. Rapidly, the protection of his loyal army and followers became the primary defense of most of the local kingdoms. The shrewd use of his fortunes had left many of the local kingdoms dependent on his land’s goods. For twenty years, all went fairly well.

Then seeming disaster fell. Gnoll armies came out of the great forest of Petethal to the east. Hasty treaties were signed by many of the kingdoms of the area to protect each other. The gnolls were defeated at the Battle of Kasil Ford, just east of Sir Cromwell’s walled city. The battle was tough, and was only won by the cooperation of Cromwell’s men with small bands of fighting men sent by the other kingdoms.

In the ten years following the battle of Kasil Ford, where the gnolls were defeated, Sir Cromwell became more and more important to the leadership of the area. He became arbiter of disputes among the other governments. In the small skirmishes with giants, he served as leader of the joined armies. It was realized that his presence would be sorely missed after his death. Someone needed to be found to serve in his role after his death.

There was a great council of representatives from most of the governments of the lake region. It was agreed that Sir Cromwell must appoint a successor to serve in his role as coordinator amongst the kingdoms. Many were worried that the future rulers of Cromwell’s freehold would always hold the post. In answer to this, Sir Cromwell himself suggested a solution: he would not be allowed to appoint his own heir, nor would any other future leader. He also suggested another restriction: all future leaders would have to be paladins like himself. The first point answered the leader’s earlier concern, but the second seemed odd to them. Sir Cromwell explained by emphasizing the need for a leader of strong moral character who would not exploit the individual states for his own benefit. This argument convinced the leaders, and, within the year, the First Charter of Cromwell was signed. It was this event that marked the beginning of the Age of Heroes. It heralded an age where small groups of heroes, rather than the great governments of the past, would set much of the course of history.

Over the years, Cromwell has become more and more of a consolidated nation, but there are times when the old system shows through the cracks. The King, as the coordinator’s post is now known, has near dictatorial powers, but is expected not to exercise most of them except in times of emergency. The local provinces still have vast powers over their own taxes and laws, but limits are set by the central government. The armed forces are largely controlled by the central government, but the local rulers still maintain small forces.

The history of Cromwell has not been a smooth one, but it has persevered for almost twenty-two centuries. There have been wars with natives and druids over expansion. There have been wars with the Realm over independence. In the early years, there were with bandit states that sprung up in unexplored areas. Wars with frost and fire giants were common occurrences in the first millennia. In the last couple hundred years there have been wars to eliminate hostile races from the interior of Cromwell: the Orc Wars, the Troll Wars, and the Gnoll Wars. Battles with the Realm and a strange church state to the east, Dunador, brought ruin upon Cromwell thirty years ago, but the nation rebounded quickly, and now holds the largest amount of territory it has controlled.

Swernin Thule Chaotic Evil

You are a minor leader in the Jarldom. You have been assigned to lead the war party on this mission, and kill the old giant if his tale is lies. If the mission succeeds, you may do so anyway in order to claim credit for it.

Truss is a loyal lieutenant, and you value him. Baltho is a good shaman. You like him and are a devout worshipper of Thrym, as well. You have been given solid troops for this mission and you are already angry over the fiasco so far. Suttrash is the most talented ogre you have ever worked with, and you find his skills a valuable edition to any mission. He uses his ogres wisely and occasionally spouts off wise ideas for an ogre. Jackalfrost and his group of wolves are a great addition to the group. They provide tracking and their frost breath, but they seem to be lazy fighters.

Baltho Svenhern Chaotic Evil

You are a shaman of the Lord of Frost Giants, Thrym. You wear the great horned helm of Thrym and wield the traditional double-bladed axe. This mission has been a mess, but you remind Swernin of the brotherhood of all frost giants and the need to cooperate to eliminate and subjugate the lesser races. At the same time, is Yurnith, the old giant, continues to fail, it is to the benefit of the race that he pass on earlier...

Swernin is a devout worshipper and you use, “Thrym would be displeased,” and similar statements to dissuade him of ideas you disapprove of. You are not above hinting that he should not do things for religious reasons, when you simple disapprove.

You like the other giants reasonably well. You had a good crew for this mission. Suttrash is useful, but his arrogance does not befit a subjugated member of a lesser race. His troops are useful fodder, though...

Truss Fello Neutral Evil

You are the epitome of a good army officer. You follow orders, you keep the troops in line, and you like to kill. You are a respected officer in the Luer Jarldom’s army. You hope to leverage this into a clam leadership position later in life. You are not a devout worshipper of the frost giant god, Thrym: Lord of Frost Giants. You act devout enough, but it is just another part of being a good officer.

You are furious over the loss of so many valued troops in this fiasco. the price of their lives will be extracted from the old giants flesh if this mission fails. If it succeeds, you are all for forgiving him. You see the importance of this mission to the continued survival of the Jarldom.

Yurnith Nernhall Chaotic Evil

Twenty years ago this September, you returned to the glacial rift of the Great Jarldom to find the entry guards slain. In fact every giant in the place had been killed: warriors, maidens, and children. A group of humans had slain the entire tribe for its allegiance wit the human land of the Realm. The leader of the humans was a young knight named Ranore Gintree.

For all of these years you have planned ways to get back at him, and now you have a way. He is now leader of the human nation and is trying to build a city near the frost giants of the Luer Jarldom. The human city is being built on the ruins of an ancient city of a dark enchantress named Derval, and it is in this way you are to have your revenge.

Derval built a magical gate from Silver Lake to her city, which was inaccessible in those times. This gate has not been discovered by the humans and promises a way to appear in the middle of the human construction workers and slay them before they can react.

You have already scouted the area, back in October. There is a passageway back to a force dome that protected the gate. You bought a rod of cancellation from a group of fire giants last month with most of your gold. Your plan was to collapse the protective dome and rush through the magical gate. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out that way...

Suttrash Chaotic Evil

If there is a hope for the ogrish race in the next thousand years it is individuals like yourself. You are bright, strong as a hill giant, and almost as tough. Ogres in the Jarldom are traditionally abused from the youngest age. One particular frost wolf, Blizhal, abused you for almost three years. Blizhal would chase you, catch you, and bite at you, laughing in the growling tongue of the winter wolves. You took the abuse, but your hate fermented and you planned. One day you ran from Blizhal, like you often were forced to do, but Blizhal never caught you this time. As Blizhal rounded a corner, a pit opened up and the wolf plunged to the bottom. The pit had taken almost a year to build in secret, but it was deep. You pelted Blizhal with rocks until the wolf lay lifeless at the bottom of the pit. You crawled down and skinned Blizhal. You’ve worn a jacket of winter wolf pelts ever since...

The wolves hate that you wear the jacket, but you use it as a symbol of your superiority. You have a healthy respect for their abilities, but you want it clear that you cannot be pushed around. Even the giants respect you, and the Jarl himself has saluted a couple of your successful attacks on norker settlements that refused to pay tribute.

You don’t know a lot about his mission. The giant from the far away jarldom knows of some magical gate that leads to the human settlement and plans to use it to leap in among the workers. You plan to hang back and let stupider ogres and cocky giants do the real fighting. You want to live and learn to exploit these gates in the future for your own ends.

Jackalfrost Neutral Evil

There is only one important thing in life and the universe: you. You are one of the leaders of your pack, and a shrewd customer. You are smarter than these stupid giants, but making them feel like they are in charge is important to their hopeless egos. They do make good hard labor and things seem to work as long as they don’t get carried away. You like to laugh at the fact that a giant four times your age is half as smart...

You and your fellow winter wolves are all bright, fast, effective trackers. Combat is the job for the giants and their flunkies. It is fun enough to breathe frost on some hopeless sap and watch his extremities fall off, but only an idiot would hang around and fight. Typical winter wolf tactics are to breathe frost, and then retreat while the giants fight unless there is some easy target.

Suttrash annoys you. He is obnoxious wearing that the hide of one of your people. The giants are okay, but the leopard is a bother. You’d like an excuse to eat it. This mission involves magical gateways and ancient enchantresses, from what you heard, but who really cares?

Marianne Neutral

You are a strong, creative, and not even unattractive, woman, but you have a voice that could remove paint from walls. It scratches and squeals at the same time. Other humans may hate your voice, but out here the animals do not care. You speak to them in ways that the sound of your voice is unimportant. They accept you. They care.

In general you disapprove of the country of Cromwell. The early Cromwellian government fought wars with the druids. Just because the government has been on good terms with the druids for a couple hundred years is no reason to believe that it will stay that way. The high Druid of the region, Rochester, has too much trust in the government. The current leader seems well-meaning, but that doesn’t count for much. In the past, most of the governments were dangerous, destructive, and expansionistic. There was war in the past, there will be war again.

Occasionally you talk with aarakocra, the bird people of the mountains. They are friendly, and occasionally bring you news of events in the area. The aarakocra are the original natives of this area, by your understanding, and you grant them some slack for that fact. You think less of the tribes of gnolls and primitive hobgoblins. They are abusive of the environment, but even they are small enough in numbers to be environmentally unimportant.

It was two days ago when an aarakocra, Tirraock, told you of a war party of giants massing at Silver Lake. Frost giants tend to be hunter gatherers. They are usually a great threat to other sentient life, but they are generally not an environmental problem. Yet, wars do terrible damage to the land. A massing of troops could not be ignored, and, to be honest, you were just curious. The two of you set out for Silver Lake the same day.

The storm was expected, but you had not guessed its severity. You think it will last about sixteen hours before it blows on out of this valley. It is a majestic storm, but you are actually quite glad to be out of it. You may love the forces of nature, but you are not immune to them...

Tirraock Neutral Good

You are a aarakocra, a bird man of the high mountains. Your people live a tribal existence as great birds of prey. Although there are occasional arguments over territory, your strongest allies are giant eagles, who live in some of the nearby peaks. In general, you try to avoid dealing with groundlings and their complicated problems, but the druids have been good friends to the aarakocra, and you try to aid them when you can.

You have were flying home from a visit to see your relatives at Tikki-Ti Jarra, when you saw a large group of ogres and giants making their way across the mountains. The group looked like a war party, so you thought it wise to let a local druid know.

You found Marianne and led her here to see what was going on, but then the storm blew up. Normally, you hate enclosed spaces, but the storm was too much to fly in and it was necessary to find shelter. You followed Marianne into the ice cave, and are regretting it more with every passing moment...

Murath Chaotic Neutral (Evil)

If there is any point to your life it is to destroy as many things as possible. You were seen as a talented warrior in your tribe, and were sent to train with a warrior. You excelled in your studies, but one day, while sparring your master put a great gash in your arm. You killed him for it.

You are hated by all the sentient beings in the area, and you wander only looking for another creature on which to take out your frustration. You don’t do a lot of damage when you hit your opponents, so you have adopted complex hit and run tactics. You work with an animal cunning even though you are dumb as a stick.

Only the largely failed efforts of your family has saved you from a life of total evil. You have some small compunction against killing non-aggressive creatures and non-combatants. If given the chance you kill non-humans and violent creatures first, but often it is too much for you, and you kill whoever is around at the time.

You have been following a group of almost a score of giants and ogres for the last ten hours or so. They are obviously headed to a fight, and you want to be there to slay the survivors on whichever side thinks it has won. The storm that was approaching when you entered the ice cave seemed quite violent. It was just as well, it will encourage your victims to stay in enclosed spaces where you can ambush them...

Nayalla Perantha, “Cypress” Neutral Good

You were ten years old when the shadow beast came. It was a strange fanged beast that sucked the blood out of livestock and the occasional unlucky shepherd. The trial elders were at a loss to deal with the strange beast. “It is time for the city people to hold up their end of the bargain,” the chief declared. Three weeks later eight strange foreigners appeared in the town. They spoke a quick and unpleasant language in whispers and wore strange clothes. One of them spoke the tribal language and asked many strange questions. Five days later they traveled to find and destroy the beast. They returned bearing a strange silver mask and word that the beast was no more. Perhaps it was their inquisitive minds, or the look of the ancient mask that was beautiful and terrible at the same time, or the chance to save shepherd boys; you knew what you would do with your life the day they vanished down the path out of the village.

It was eighteen years ago that you came to the Academy of Cromwell looking for a job. You learned languages, and studied skills that they said you would need. You were already a capable warrior, but they stressed the need for new skills to answer questions and communicate with others. Life there suited you. Two years later, in 2162, you joined a team that investigates unusual occurrences for the government. If it is too big for local government, and too unusual for the army, the Academy is contacted and a team set up. In September of 2169 your team was contacted to check out some ancient ruins. It was a mission directly from King Ranore. It took three years of regular work to clear a route to the ruins at Mount Ederglow. In 2173 it became clear that your team would never be a regular Academy team again. The work in the mountains had become a full-time job. The king planned on turning the strange ruins into a new capital city for Cromwell, and your team was to be the founders. Your team left the Academy and now oversees the project.

An old waystation at Fanjyr has been rebuilt and now guards the old east-west pass. The tortuous path to the mountain is still being converted to passable road. Workers have arrived at Mount Ederglow and work on the new city will start soon. Your job is to finish exploring this region of the mountains. Another nest of flying owlbears or a couple of polar worms could ruin the whole operation. Your comrades are:

The Founders: The Seven Survivors of an Academy Team
Pelbo Capital Forces Commander F10 Efficient and a good warrior; But her adventuring talents are being wasted as an administrator...
DeHouvaire Lawyer, Engineer, & Constable T11 A great guy, good you think that since he’s your boyfriend...
Saldón Canon of the Capitol Temple C9 A devout and quiet man who worries about keeping things “right”. The two of you argue a bit.
Montaigne Project Wizard M9 A creepy old gypsy guy, even after knowing him 16 years...
Elisabeth Fanjyr Commander F8 A city girl with a great sense of humor and a light smile. You miss seeing her more often these days.
Tribber Recording Bard B@F6 If there is a more successful goof-off anywhere, you find him. How he gets stuff done is a mystery...

Almost everyone has a huge staff now. Pelbo has a staff of guards and workmen that numbers over a thousand. DeHouvaire has a staff of forty. Saldón oversees twenty monks and acolytes. Elisabeth has a staff of almost a hundred. Even Tribber has two researchers. Montaigne is another story. He is always lurking on his own in the old ruins...

The head of the construction project is a wacky old engineer with the generic name John Smith. Generic he is not; he carries a flaming sword and occasionally mumbles about his “old days fighting giants with the king.” Working with him is certainly better than dealing with some quiet technician. The workers seem a hardy bunch and are being paid well for the harsh conditions.

Silver Lake is a wonderful place to camp. Pine covered slopes lead down to the glacial boulders and the lake reflects the regal mountains. You had often seen signs that dwarves passed through the area, and a couple of times you saw gnoll tracks, but neither of these alarmed you. This time there were signs that a vast force of giants had moved across the valley and up to the Little Ice glacier. As you tracked them a storm began to blow in and the wind was picking up as you followed the tracks into an ice cave. You tracked them into a series of twisting ice caves, trying to find out where they were going. There were more dwarven tracks near the entrance, but you are still following the giants. You think there might be a dog or cat of great size with them, but the tracks are very confusing.

Monique Devalair, “Blaze” Lawful Good

You grew up hearing of the wars in the surrounding lands, and you watched the soldiers march in the roads to far off places to fight for great causes. Some day, you dreamed, you would be there. As you grew older, you learned that as a woman you could never serve in the central army, but you were undaunted. You got a job in the special forces of Geoff and served there for six years.

It was two years ago that the chance came to work with Cypress scouting and patrolling for the construction of the new capital. It was you big break and you took it. Someday you will be an important officers in the capital’s elite guard, and maybe even high commander someday.

Being one of Cypress’s followers is exciting and you like all the folks. Some of her former adventuring companions are a bit annoying, but they are all experts.

Silver Lake is a wonderful place to camp. Pine covered slopes lead down to the glacial boulders and the lake reflects the regal mountains. Cypress had often seen signs that dwarves passed through the area, and a couple of times she saw gnoll tracks, but neither of these alarmed any of you. This time there were signs that a vast force of giants had moved across the valley and up to the Little Ice glacier. As you tracked them a storm began to blow in and the wind was picking up as you followed the tracks into an ice cave. You tracked them into a series of twisting ice caves, trying to find out where they were going. The ice caves bother you a little. Open spaces suit you much better.

Karlyle Matthiessen, “Chalky” Neutral Good

You are an outsider from Petethal. That is a hard thing to do in a country of vagabonds and wanderers, but everywhere you went you found another wanderer in your personal bit of wilderness. You starting looking for real wilderness and your investigations pointed to the harsh mountains of Cromwell. Unfortunately, you still needed a job. You were visiting Geoff, checking out your opportunities when you heard of a job with the government scouting the mountains.

You took the job under Cypress and really like it. At times the group seems too big, ad you feel fenced in, but the exciting work is worth it. They have real mountains here, and real storms. Things here challenge your abilities and that makes it all worth it.

Cypress is part of an old group of adventurers that administers this area. They are:

Silver Lake is a wonderful place to camp. Pine covered slopes lead down to the glacial boulders and the lake reflects the regal mountains. Cypress had often seen signs that dwarves passed through the area, and a couple of times she saw gnoll tracks, but neither of these alarmed any of you. This time there were signs that a vast force of giants had moved across the valley and up to the Little Ice glacier. As you tracked them a storm began to blow in and the wind was picking up as you followed the tracks into an ice cave. You tracked them into a series of twisting ice caves, trying to find out where they were going. You find the caves interesting, but they don’t seem so safe to you. You would prefer to move slower and check things out better, but it is important to catch up to these giants, or at least discover where they are going.

Bali Turnstone, “Wink” Neutral Good

You are a mountain dwarf from Shabrund. You heard of Cypress and her efforts to build a human settlement in the mountains, and it interested you. You had always liked humans and you also figured it could not hurt trade with the dwarves.

You are the group’s advance scout, but you try to avoid combat, because almost everybody is better than you at it. A t times you fire your bow from cover. The group has always been short on missile power. You have liked the last two years. The chances to fight occasional norkers, gnolls, and wandering kobolds, has done your dwarven soul good.

Cypress is part of an old group of adventurers that administers this area. You have talked with all of them, and her boyfriend, DeHouvaire, is particularly cool. He seems to be one heck of a thief. Her old party of adventurers includes:

Silver Lake is a wonderful place to camp. Pine covered slopes lead down to the glacial boulders and the lake reflects the regal mountains. Cypress had often seen signs that dwarves passed through the area, and a couple of times she saw gnoll tracks, but neither of these alarmed any of you. This time there were signs that a vast force of giants had moved across the valley and up to the Little Ice glacier. As you tracked them a storm began to blow in and the wind was picking up as you followed the tracks into an ice cave. You tracked them into a series of twisting ice caves, trying to find out where they were going. You like rock caves better, but for some reason this place has the feel of dwarves. You just can’t place why.

Manlo Tyerian, “Flint” Neutral

You are a cleric of Silban, the Earth Mother. You are a traditional Northerner tribal cleric who came to serve with Cypress in her new job. You try to keep her true to the old ways. Her other followers are an okay bunch, but progress must be accompanied by tradition. Your religion is very druidic in nature, and although you feel the druids are a bit misguided, they should be consulted on issues of importance. This whole project bothers you a bit, but at least you can help turn it to Silban’s ways.

Cypress is part of an old group of adventurers that administers this area. They include:

Silver Lake is a gem in the eye of nature. Pine covered slopes lead down to the glacial boulders and the lake reflects the regal mountains. Cypress had often seen signs that dwarves passed through the area, and a couple of times she saw gnoll tracks, but neither of these alarmed any of you. This time there were signs that a vast force of giants had moved across the valley and up to the Little Ice glacier. As you tracked them a storm began to blow in and the wind was picking up as you followed the tracks into an ice cave. You tracked them into a series of twisting ice caves, trying to find out where they were going.

Leally Furnet Lawful Good

You are, to put it in two words, a granola nerd. You love studying the physical sciences in the field. Reading is a bit overblown as a hobby, when so much can be learned by observation. You started working for Cypress almost two years ago when she started gathering a group to survey the area. You hope to spin the opportunity off into a job in the administration of the region as an excuse to stay in these regal peaks.

Cypress is part of an old group of adventurers that administers this area. You have talked with all of them, and find Montaigne fascinating. His interests are a bit narrowly focused on wizardry, but he knows a lot. The brad Tribber is also fun to talk with. Her old party of adventurers includes:

Silver Lake is a wonderful place to camp. Pine covered slopes lead down to the glacial boulders and the lake reflects the regal mountains. Cypress had often seen signs that dwarves passed through the area, and a couple of times she saw gnoll tracks, but neither of these alarmed any of you. This time there were signs that a vast force of giants had moved across the valley and up to the Little Ice glacier. As you tracked them a storm began to blow in and the wind was picking up as you followed the tracks into an ice cave. You tracked them into a series of twisting ice caves, trying to find out where they were going. You like to see how nature has shaped the ice in strange ways. The power of glaciers is awesome, and walking inside of one is a spectacular experience.

Spittle Neutral Hungry

You live in these ice caves. You don’t have a map because you are too stupid to remember your way around. You have been hibernating for a spell to generate new eggs from your food stores and all of this commotion has stirred you. Now you want to eat whatever food is handy for a couple of weeks, so you can get back to sleep. You have a nest in the caves, and like to gather shiny things there. More shiny things would be particularly nice!

Heckle Neutral (Evil)

You are Sowím’s loyal pet. You are glad to find these beings for him, but the trail does not smell much like giant. You are a friendly pet in most ways, but he has accustomed you to killing for sport, and you have taken a liking to it. Sometimes you think it is not worth the trouble and revert to your scavenger ways.

Lungie Chaotic Evil

You are a strange creature. You are like a troll in most respects, but you are clearly partly a creature of elemental ice. You can only be hurt by magical weapons under most circumstances, but you can also be hurt by big monsters like ettins, ogres, and giants.

You have a dim fear of magic items, and secretly, you are able to detect magic with 20% accuracy. You use this ability not to inform your comrades, but to avoid what might hurt you. You are happy here in the ice caves, where you are almost indestructible, even to the weapons that might affect you. Even fire and acid are no problem while touching water.

You like to use your partial invisibility to surprise victims. It is much more effective near ice, but nearly useless in the open in full daylight.

You have no strong opinions about much of anything. You are cruel, vicious, and usually hungry. You like treasure, and your clan of six back home has some hidden away. As long as it is precious metals and not magical, it sounds great to you. You carry nothing most of the time, but can hang things on your somewhat mutable body if you find them, but it hurts your invisibility.

Trash & Crash Chaotic Evil

Let’s be clear about one thing: the two heads of an ettin rarely agree on much of anything. Although neither head is particularly stupid, like a bad committee, the whole is dumber than the parts. Like most ettins you have little sense of loyalty to anyone except your other head.

You like treasure, but have a poor sense of the relative value of coins. You trade to get lots of coins - copper and silver seem good to you. For a gold coin you can get five or more copper ones! You like to kill and eat things. Although all of the food goes to one stomach, you occasionally fight over which head gets the fun of eating it.

You both like gnolls okay. They seem to be good at finding things to fight, and they often let you do much of the fun fighting! One day you hope to live with the ettins who work for the fire giants. They get more food and have nicer holes. For now, things seem okay, and you don’t really know what is going on. The best you understand, Sowím is following somebody he’s wondering about. You like Heckle. He’s so cute.

Sowím Neutral Evil

Gnoll tribes are loose-knit affairs. There is a constant need for more slave labor, and there is always competition for living space and hunting rights. You have established a clear and strong place within the hierarchy: you are the best scout in your tribe. You and Heckle make an awesome team. Although Heckle cannot speak, he understands almost everything you tell him, and you can tell what he is thinking in a glance. The two of you keep an eye on other gnoll tribes, dwarven surface activities, the local norkers, and the giant overlords of the area. The frost giants do a pretty good job of resisting the humans, but they expect vast tribute. The norkers and other gnolls are occasional competitors for territory. The dwarves are normally far enough underground (and to the northwest, for that matter) that they can be ignored, but they slay your people without question when they are encounter them.

You spotted a war party of almost a dozen frost giants, a dozen ogres, and four winter wolves in a valley far below two days ago. You have kept your scouting party following them ever since. War parties of giants could mean clashes with humans, or it could mean that they are going to destroy a gnoll or norker tribe. When tribute is too low for their liking, they destroy a tribe who paid too little as a warning to the others. If these giants are going after your tribe then you would be a hero if you warn the tribe first. If they are headed after the humans...well, you’re curious.

It took some effort to find the secret door, but Heckle found clear tracks right up to it. The long corridor traveled through stone for a couple of hundred feet, but since then it has traveled through the ice. The ground is treacherous in places, but passable. The tunnel has obviously been dug, and there are occasional signs of steps hacked in the ice.

Fahweata is a flind, a type of very charismatic gnoll. You dont mind having her along, but her presence is a sign that the tribal council is looking over your shoulder. That annoys you. You have always done more than your share of the work, and the last thing you need is somebody bugging you about the job you are doing.